Gaseous fuel control system



Jan. 19, 1932.. E. J. TE PAS 1,842,327

GASEOUS FUEL CONTROL SYSTEM Original Filed April 15, 1927 ai igl mi INVENTQR Patented Jan. 19, 1932 units!) STATE/S tartar OFFICE EDMUND ll. TE PAS, F LAKEWOOD, OHIO, ASSIGNQB TO THE PATROL VALVE COMPANY,

01? CLEVELAND, OHIO, A UOREDRATION OF OHIO GASEOU8 FUEL CONTRUL swarm Application filed April 15, 1987, Serial No. 184,166. Renewed. July L7, 1931.

lhis invention relates to gas fired appliances and in particular automatically controlled gas burning furnaces and boilers of the multiple burner type.

a It is the usual practise to provide certain types of gas burning appliances and in particular gas fired boilers and furnaces with some sort of an automatic control, responsive to room temperature, boiler temperature 10 or pressure, water level, etc., that is instrumental in opening and closing a gas valve between the source of gas supply and the main burner. One or more constantly burning pilot lights are usually provided and positioned adjacent'tlie main burners to ignite the gas issuing therefrom when the burners are put into operation by the automatic control in placin them in communication with the source 0 gas supply. 7

It is readily apparent that in this sort of arrangement, extinguishment of the pilot lights could lead to serious consequences by allowing a large ,quantity of unburnedgas to escape from the burners, endangering 2'5 human life and property by asphyxiation or explosion.

llhe earlierAmerican inventors sought to overcome the hazard caused by the escape of unburned gas by devising self-closing 3o burners and self-igniting burners. As gas was used almost entirely for illumination purposes in the early days, such devices were designed to con fol sinall amounts of gas and are not app icable to present day condi- ,tions where homes and large apartment houses are heated by a single boiler on furnace in which the rate of gas'consumption may run as high as several: hundred cubic feet an hour. v

The present trend in the development of safety devices to prevent the escape of unburned gashas been to use the heat of a constantlyburning ignition pilot to hold open a valve in the gas supply line to the main burners or to control a dlaphragm valve by means of other valves under the control of the heat of the pilot lights so that upon extinguishment of the pilot light or lights the main gas supply to the burners cannot be turned on. Safety devices of the preceding type are open to the objection that ordinari-- ly the user does not know whether or not they are in working order. They are called on to function only in case of a hazardous condition brought on by extinguishment of the pilot lights. Such a condition may not occur for a long time and in the meantime 4 natural deterioration of the valve itself or accumulation in the valve of foreign matter carried by the gas may render the valve inoperative at the very time when it is most needed,

It was to overcome these and other objections and to accomplish new and useful results that this gaseous fuel control system was invented.

It is the object of this invention to provide an appliance of the type described with a safety fuel control system that positively and safely controls the flow of gaseous fuel to the main burners, that provides a supplemental heating burner which also serves as an ignition burner, that can control any number of burners with a single pilot light, that depends upon the presence of a pilot light for its operation in turning on the gas, that is normally closed and will remain so in the absence of the pilot light, that functions each time the gas is turned on or ofl, that controls the flow of gaseous fuel by means of snap acting ther "mostatic valves, that quickly and positively lights all the burners at the same time, that prevents the admission of gas to the main inafter described, illustra ed in some of its embodiments in the accoIr anying drawings and particularly pointed .it in the appended claims.

In the accompanying lrawings Figure 1 is a front elevation partly in section of a base and burner assembly broken at the center, constructed in accordance with and adopted for use in practising my invention. Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of the thermostatic valve controlling the main burners and Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of the thermostatic valve controlling the auxiliary burner.

The complete assembly shown in Figure 1 includes a base member or burner housing 1 having a series of gas burners 2. 'Each of the. burners 2, which are in many appliances about three feet. long, extends from the. front to the back of the base member and they are positioned side by side from one end of the base member to the other. The base is shown broken away at the center for convenience of illustration. Base members of this kind are used to house from four to forty burners and it is the usual practice to provide a constantly burning pilot for each group of four burners.

My invention contemplates replacing the conventional plurality of constantly burning pilots by a single burner 3 and one constantly burning pilot 4. The burner 3 acts as an auxiliary heating burner and as an ignition means for the main burners 2and is only in operation at such times as when the main burners are used.

The gas supply of the main burners is controlled by a thermostatic valve 5 responsive to the heat of the flames issuing from the last few ports of the auxiliary burner 3. a

The valve 5 is connected at its inlet side to a source of gaseous fuel supply by the pipe 6 and at its outlet side to a manifold 7 in communication with the main burners 2.

A thermostatic valve 8 similar in construction to the valve 5 is connected at its outlet to the urner 3 and at its inlet to a source of gas supply by means of the pipe 11. The valves 5 and 8 are shown in detail in Figures 2 and 3 respectively. A solenoid valve 9 of any suitable type is located just ahead of the thermostatic valve 8 and controls the admission of gas to this valve. A cook 10 is used to control the flow of gas from the feed pipe 11 to the pilot 4. i

The operation of the thermostatic valves 5 and 8 will be considered in detail presently after their function in the operation of the complete system has been described.

The main burners 2 are brought into operation in the following manner: The solenoid valve is first caused to open by a room thermostat or other switching device that controls the flow of an electrical current through thecoil of the valve. The opening of the solenoid valve admits gas to the valve 8 which is normalvnited by the constantly burning pilot 4. The

opening of the valve 8 admits gas to the burner 3. Ignition of the burner 3 is accomplished by the pilot 4, the ports of the burner 3 being successively ignited providing a series of small flames from one end of the base member to the other. The last few ports of the burner 3 are located in the housing of the valve 5 and the flames from these ports serve to open the valve 5 admitting gas to the burners 2 which are ignited by the burner 3.

The proper starting of the main burners first of all requires and is absolutely dependent upon the presence of the flame of the pilot light 4, from which the series of flames of the burner 3 are ignited and propagated from one end to the other end of the base member and adjacent each of the main burners before gas can be supplied to them. The use of a large capacity supplemental heating burner such as shown insures the quiet and positive lighting of all the main burners at the instant gas is emitted from their orifices. Extinguishment of the single pilot light 4 prior to the operations just enumerated absolutely prevents the admission of gas to the burners 2 and 3 for in the starting of these burners the flame that lights the burner is an essential and precedent condition which must be fulfilled before gas can be supplied to the main burners.

The thermostatic valves 5 and. 8 are to a great extent similar in their operation and construction. The valve 5 is shown in section in Figure 2. A pressed metal housing 12 acts as a support for the valve body 13 which is secured thereto by the screws 41. The housing 12 is in turn secured to a side 14 of thc base member 1 by a bolt or rivet 15. A portion of the burner 3 extends into the pressed metal housing and furnishes the heat necessary to operate the valve. A stamped metal cover 16 is secured to the housing 12 by a bolt orscrew 17.

A strip of thermostatic metal 18 is secured at one end to the housing by a bolt and nut 19. This metal is made up of two sheets of different metals such as brass and steel suitably joined together so that the composite laminated strip formed thereby has the property of changing its shape with changes in its temperature.

In the arrangement shown in Figure 2 when the flames of the burner 3 are allowed to act on thestrip 18 its free end moves away from the burner 3 due to the differential expansion of the two metals of which it is made in which the high expansion face of the strip is located nearest the burner. If the faces of the strip were reversed, its free end would IDOVG'IH the opposite direction when heated. An adjustable link is mounted in bearings 26 and27 formed in the free end of the strip 18 and in the oscillating lever 28 respectively. A resilient lever made up of a spring 29 and abutments 30 and 31 cooperates with the lever 28 to form a sna action mechanism. Suitable grooves or epressions 32 and 33 form bearings for rock in. I

A shield of deflector plate 20 is carried by the pivot 21 and is operatively connected to the oscillating lever 28 by the rod 22 mounted in bearings 23 and 24 of the plate and the lever. The plate 20 automatically regulates and controls the amount of heat from the burner 3 that is allowed to act on the thermo- (Elli therrno metal. 18 to tion of the lever 28; The dotted line position of the shield is the one it occupies when the valve is closed. In this case the flames from n the last two of the ports of the burner 3 are deflected towards the strip 18 and in the open valve or full line position of the shield these flames are deflected away from the strip 18. This arrangement permits the use of a large amount of heat to open the valve in a minimum of time and upon the opening of the valve prevents the strip from being overheated by deflecting the heat away from it. The arrangement further functions to direct the proper amount of heat to the strip 18 when it is desired to keep the valve open by being moved toward its dotted line position by the strip 18 to increase the amount of heat supplied thereto upon the cooling of said strip below the temperature required to hold the valve open;

A valve stern 34 is journaled in the valve casing 13 at 38. Parallel faces 35 are machined in the valve stem 34' for the reception of the lever 28 which straddles the valve stem. Contact edges 36 of the lever 28 serve to transmit the motion of the oscillating lever 28 to the valve stem 34. Three annular oil grooves 37 are cut in the valve stem 34 to provide a liquid seal and prevent the escape of gas between the valve stem and the valve body. A valve head 39 mounted on the stem 34 cooperates with a valve seat 40 formed in the valve body to control fluid flow between the inlet and outlet passages of the valve body. A cap 42 provides a closure for the opening v in the side of the valve required for machining and assembling purposes.

In Figure the valve is shown in the open position. Eatinguishment oi": the burner 3 upon the of the valve 9 the knife edges ofthe levers to the valve stem. When the oscillating lever and the resilient lever pass their neutral position or the position they have when their axes are in line, further movement of the strip 18 causes the aforementioned levers to snap to the right at their junction point and at the same time one of the edges 36 contacts with the valve stem moving it and the attached valve head to the closed position with a snap action, cutting ofli the gas supply of theburners 2. Reignition of the burner 3 causes the mechanism to operate in the reverse manner snapping open the valve and admitting gas to the burners 2.

In opening the valve the strip 18 and associated parts move to the left until the snap action mechanism passes its neutral or dead center position whereupon the edge 36 of the lever 28 contacts with the valve stem and snaps it and its valve head to the open position.

The side 14 of the base member 1 is drilled at 49 for the reception of the burner 3 and at 50 to allow the products of combustion from the end ports of the burner 3 to return to the interior of the base member.

The valve 8 differs in its construction from the valve 5 in that a deflector shield is not used in regulating the heat applied to the thermostatic metal. Heating of the thermostatic strip 18 isaccomplished by a small bunsen burner 46 adopted at times to be under control of the valve head 39 and the valve seat 43 which is connected thereto by 'the conduit 45. A light spring 44 causes the 47 are so positioned with respect to each other that when gas is supplied to the .burner 46 it will be ignited by the flame of the pilot burn- The burner 46 is ignited by the pilot light 4 causing the valve 8 to snap open in the manner described. for the valve and admit gas to the burner The valve head 39 contacts with the seat 43 upon the opr-znii'ig of the valve. The burner 46 at the same ime ex- ;..shed by this amion. Cooliii t.

p18now nism to follow the movement of the strip 18. c In this manner a measured amount of gas is passed to the burner 46 in just sufficient quantities to maintain the valve open and at the same time prevent the strip 18 from being overheated.

When thevalve 9 is closed the burners 3 and 46 are extinguished and the strip 18 quickly cools and snaps closed the valve 8.

From the method of operation shown and desc ibed it is apparent that each step in the operation of the system is dependent, first of all upon the presence of pilot flame 4 and then upon the flames ignited from this pilot. By this arrangement it is possible to safely and easily control any reasonable number of main heating burners from a single pilot li ht. I,

The thermostatic valves illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 embody certain improvements directed to the elimination of the packing and other parts of the valves shown in copending application Serial No. 123,561 filed by Wallace J. Snow, July 19, 1926 and application Serial No. 3,333 filed January 19, 1925, by Loran F. Doen and the claims in the present applicationspecific to the valve. details are limited to the above mentioned improvements.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that' the particular forms of apparatus shownand described,and the particular procedure set forth, are presented for purposes of explanation and illustration and that varlous modifications of said apparatus and pro-- cedure can be made without departing from my invention as defined in the appended claims.

lVhat I claim is 1. A thermally actuated valve having a housing adapted to be attached to the wall of a gas burning appliance, a valve body carried by said housing, a valve seat formed in said valve body, a valve head cooperating therewith to control fluid flow between inlet and outletpassages in said valve body, a valve stem to carry said valve head said Valve stem having an aperture therein, snap-actlon means operating in said aperture, bearings formed in said housing'for said snap action means, and thermally actuated means connected to said snap action means.

2. In a device of the type described, a base member, a series of main burners housed in said base member, an auxiliary burner adj acent the ends of said mainburners and extending from one end to the other end of said base member, a control burner, a constantly burning pilot adjacent said control burner and said auxiliary burner, means to admit gas to said control burner, means responsive to the heat of said control burner to admit gas to said auxiliary burner, and means responsive to thehcat of said auxiliary burner to admit gas to said main burners.

3. In a thermostatically controlled gas burning appliance, a constantly burning pilot burner, a control burner adjacent thereto, a series of main heating gas burners, an auxiliary burner in lighting proximity to said main heating gas burners and said pilot burner, means for supplying gas to said control burner whereby said burner is ignited by said constantly burning pilot burner, thermostatic means responsive to the heat of said control burner for supplying gas to said auxiliary burner, and means responsive to the heat of said auxiliary burner for supplying gas to said series of main heating gas burners.

4. .In a multiple burner gas fired appliance, a source of gaseous fuel supply therefor, a plurality of main heating burners, an auxiliary burner in lighting proximity to said burners, a constantly burning pilot burner adjacent one end of said auxiliary burner, a thermostatic valve responsive in its operation to the. heat emitted by said auxiliary burner to control the flow of gas to said main heating burners, a thermally actuated valve to control the flow of gas to said auxiliary burner, a control burner adjacent said pilot burner positioned to supply the heat necessary' for the operation of said-thermally actuated valve, and means to control the gaseous fuel supply of said control burner;

5. In a multiple burner gas fired appliance, a source of gaseous fuel supply therefor, a plurality of main heating burners, an auxiliary burner in lighting proximity to said burners, a constantly burning pilot burner adjacent said auxiliary burner,a thermostatic valve responsive in its operation to the heatjemitted by said auxiliary burner and adjacent one end thereof to control the flow of was to said main heating burners, a thermally actuated valve to control the flow of gas to said auxiliary burner, a control burner adjacent said pilot burner positioned to supply the heat necessary for the. operation of said thermally actuated valve, and means to control the gaseous fuel supply of said control burner. I

6. In a multiple burner. gas fired appliance, a source of gaseous fuel supply therefor, a plurality of main heating burners, an

auxiliary burner in lighting proximity to said burners, a constantly burning pilot burner adjacent said auxiliary burner, a thermostatic valve solely responsive in its operation to the heat emitted by said auxiliary burner to control the flow of gas to said main heating burners, a thermally actuated valve to control the flow of gas to said auxiliary burner, a control burner adjacent said pilot burner positioned to supply the heat necessary for the operation of said thermally actuated valve, and means to control the gaseous fuel supply of said control burner.

7. In a multiple burner gas fired appliance,

- :1 source of gaseous fuel supply therefor, a

llt

plurality of main heating burners, an auxiliary burner in lighting proximity to said burners, a constantly burning pilot burner adjacent one end of said auxiliary burner, a thermostatic valve responsive in its operation to the heat emitted by said auxiliary burner and adjacent the other endthereof to control the flow of gas to said main heating burners, a thermally actuated valve to control the flow of gas to said auxiliary burner, a control burner adjacent said pilot burn er positioned to supply the heat necessary for the operation of said thermally actuated valve,

and means to control the gaseous fuel supply of said control burner.

8. In a multiple burner gas fired appliance, a source of gaseous fuel supply therefor, a plurality of main heating burners, anauxiliary burner in lighting proximity to said the appliance to control the gaseous fuel supall oil

ply of said control burner. I I

9;. In a gas 'fired heating appliance, a plurahty of main gas burners, a housing therefor, an auxiliary burner Within said housing 1n lightmg proximity to said main burners, a thermostatic valve positioned exteriorly of said housing for controlling the flow of gas to said main burners and responsive in ts operation to heat supplied by said auxliary burner, a thermally actuated valve posltioned exteriorly of said housing to control the gas supplied to said auxiliary burner, a continually burning pilot burner adjacent said auxiliary burner, a control burner positloned to be ignited solely by said pilot burner providing the sole source of energy for the operation of said thermally actuated valve, and means to control the flow of gas to said control burner.

10. In a fluid fuel fired appliance, the combination of a main heating burner, a source of fuel supply therefor, and a pilot governed fuel control for said main heating burner comprising an auxiliary burner for igniting said main heating burner in the normal op eration of the appliance, a constantly burning pilot burner for ignitingsaid auxiliary burner, means responsive to the heat of said auxiliary burner for supplying fuel to said main heating burner, valve means for controlling the operation of said auxiliary burner, a control burner, and thermal means responsive to the heat supplied by said control burner to actuate said valve.

. 11. In a fluid fuel fired appliance, a main heating burner, a source of fuel supply, and j in the normal operation of the appliance, a

constantly burning pilot burner for igniting said auxiliary burner, means responsive to the heat of said auxiliary burner for supplying fuel to said main heating burner, valve means for controlling the operation of said auxiliary burner, a control burner adjacent to and ignitable' by said pilot burner, and thermal means responsive to the heat of said control burner to actuate said valve.

12. The combination in a fluid fuel fired appliance, of a main heating burner, a source of fuel therefor, and a pilot governed fuel control for said main heating burner, said fuel control comprising a normally extin guished ,auxiliary burner for lighting said main heating burner in the normal operation of the appliance, a constantly burning pilot burner for lighting said auxiliary burner, means responsive to the heat of said auxiliary burner for supplying fuel to said main heating burner, and means operatively associated with said pilot burner and inoperative upon the extinguishment of said; pilot burner to control the supply of fuel to said auxiliary burner. V

13. In a fluid fuel fired appliance, a main heating burner, a source of fuel supply therefor, and a pilot governed control for said main heating burner, said control comprising a normal extinguished auxiliary burner for lighting said main heating burner in the nor mal operation of said appliance, a constantly burning pilot burner for lighting said auxiliary burner, means responsiveto the heat of said auxiliary burner for supplying fuel to said main heating burner, thermo-static means to control the operation of said auxiliary burner, a control burner to supply heat for actuating said thermo-stat-ic means, and an electric valve to control the supply of fuel to said control burner.

14. In a fluid fuel burning device, a main burner, an auxiliary burner for igniting said main burner, a constantly burning pilot burner remote from said main burner for igniting said auxiliary burner, a source of fuel supply for said burners, valve means to control the operation of both saidauxiliary and main burners, a thermostatically operated safety control device for preventing the supply of fuel to said auxiliary burner and said main burner when said pilot burner is extinguished, and thermo-static valve means governing the fuel supply of said main burner, said last named means being positioned to permit independent operation of said auxiliary burner.

15. The combination in a gaseous fuel burning appliance of a source of fuel supply,

a main burner in communication with said source, a traveling flame auxiliary burner for igniting said main burner, a constantly burning pilot burner for igniting said auxiliary 5 burner, Valve means to control the operation of both said main and auxiliary burners, and thermally operated Valve means to control the operation of said main burner only and positioned to permit independent operation 10 of said auxiliary burner.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature. EDMUND J. TE PAS. 

